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The Redoran Struggle II: Exile
It had been four days hard travelling by the time the Heselth and Rodrik reached the Hlaalu controlled city of Kragenmoor, upon arrival the duo had thus far evaded the city guards who in a time of war, were authorised by the xenophobic Cammona Tong to execute any outlanders or spies. The two spotted a nearby cornerclub "This will be were my contact will be, he usually has a body guard so maybe we shouldn't just go chargin....." Helseth was cut off mid sentence as Rodrik kicked the door of the corner club opened and stabbed the unsuspecting Hlaalu mercenary guarding the entrance of the tavern in the the stomach, "Stay still and maybe you don't bleed out". Helseth marched in after the Stormcloak and took a rusting seat at the dilapidated bar next to the only other patron, a Dunmer with auburn hair wearing a robe of the Daedric Prince Vaermina. "Hello Mikar, long time no see" Helseth said as he signalled the nervous looking barman for two Sujammas for himself and Mikar along with a Nordic mead for Rodrik, who promptly collected his drink before returning to guard the entrance from any interruptions. "What has my father done now?" Mikar asked with a bemused look on his face as he sipped his sujamma. "What makes you think this has anything to do with your father?" Helseth replied as he also drank his beverage. "Vendil has never been the same since my mother perished in the Great War, and the only time you'd ever bother someone like me is if someone from the Hlaalu has done something to offend the great noble house of Redoran". Helseth chuckled "I know I dislike the other Houses, but for you I make an exception, after all you're not the typical Hlaalu brood are you?" "By Vaermina I hope I'm not the typical Hlaalu, else your throat would've been slit for simply bringing an outlander into a Hlaalu controlled cornerclub" Mikar laughed as Rodrik glared in his direction. "Never mind the outlander, I need to talk to you about the Thalmor." "The Thalmor were eradicated in these parts by the Mede brothers, last decent thing that damn Imperial bloodline did before turning on each other like rabid dogs." "Not quite" Rodrik added. "What!?" Mikar replied astounded. "The High King of Skyrim Ulfric Stormcloak has discovered that a high ranking Thalmor agent survived the purges ordered by the tyrant Emperor, Augustus Mede. Our spies in the region suggest that the agent is in fact the butcher of Valenwood, the sacker of Taneth and Naarifin's right hand mer Lord Varthorian." "And you think the Hlaalu would dare hide a Thalmor, let alone one of the biggest war criminals in the history of elven kind." "I think very few elves are trustworthy, a statement doubly true when attributed to House Hlaalu." Rodrik put his fingers on the hilt of his sword whilst Mikar smiled and continued to drink his Sujamma. Helseth saw the faces of the two men and spoke up, "I don't mean to suggest that you yourself have anything to do with harboring this war criminal, but this is war, and in war people do anything to win" "Let me ask you a question Helseth, who is House Hlaalu's only ally of substance?" Mikar asked with a mocking tone in his voice. "The Imperials." Helseth replied cynically. "And what would the leader of the Imperials, Augustus Mede do to my House, if he discovered that we had possession of the agent that helped massacre Imperial troops 45 years ago?" "He would destroy you all and take pleasure in it" Rodrik replied. "Hence the reason no one in my house would hide a member of the Thalmor, no matter if he did possess information about secret routes into Skyrim". "How the hell did you know that Varthorian possessed knowledge about secret ways into Skyrim?" Rodrik asked. "Ahh, it seems this Sujamma and my words have betrayed me." Mikar slid his hand onto a dagger hidden beneath his robe, Rodrik drew his sword and Helseth picked up his spear. "You're going to tell me where this bastard is Mikar" Helseth said with anger in his voice. "You and your friend won't live long enough to use the information anyway" Mikar drew his dagger and lunged at Helseth but the young Dunmer simply moved out of the way and watched as his friend crashed to the floor. Mikar staggered to his feet when suddenly he yelled out in pain and collapsed to the floor. "What the?" Helseth asked but then he saw the black sword protruding from Mikar's back. "A daedric tanto" Rodrik said "extremely rare, only used by assassins looking for a single strike." "But who in Oblivion threw it?" Helseth looked around and noticed he and the Stormcloak where the only two in the tavern still alive "Rodrik, wasn't there a barman in here when we arrived?" "He's not here anymore, I thought that pointy eared bastard looked shifty, even for an elf" Helseth shot Rodrik an indignant look "C'mon there is only one way out of this tavern and he can't have gotten far." Why kill Mikar? What could've he possibly revealed to me? The Dunmer thought as he and Rodrik made their way out of cornerclub only to be surrounded by nine elves wearing Hlaalu insignia and armor. A wry smile appeared on the Stormcloak's face as he drew his dwarven sword again. "Stop in the name of House Hlaalu, you are wanted criminals and as such will be detained for trial and execution" The leader said with authority in his voice. "Captain, you really should've brought more men. It might've been a fair fight" said Helseth smugly as he drove his ebony spear into the Hlaalu Captain's throat through a gap in his armor. Rodrik whirled his dwarven sword in his hand and began to duel several of the Hlaalu whilst Helseth dealt with the rest. In mere moments Rodrik and Helseth had disarmed and killed the eight out of the remaining nine elves. Rodrik thrusted his sword into the last remaining guard's leg, the guard screamed in agony as the Stormcloak smirked. "Now tell us why you are trying to kill us and where that shifty barkeep ran off to in such a hurry". "I'm not telling you anything outlander scum" Rodrik smiled and twisted his blade in the guard's leg causing extreme pain "Wrong answer, now answer me correctly or this continues until you run out of limbs" The guard cried in agony but managed to fight back the pain long enough to give Rodrik an answer, "The barkeep, he aghh works for the Tong, the Morag Tong.... he's an independant assassin by the name Raynil Indlyn... please that's all I know." Rodrik shared a look with Helseth and removed his sword from the guard's knee, the guard sighed in relief as the blade was removed, but this relief was short as the Nord drove his Dwarven Sword deep into the guard's exposed chest, killing him instantly. "The Morag Tong, thought they disbanded" Rodrik said. "Not quite, pockets of assassins survived and reformed the assassins' guild but not at its old level of importance. Now it seems someone in the Hlaalu is trying to bring them back to their glory days, but why?" Helseth asked rhetorically. "Never mind the why, King Ulfric sent me here to dispatch of Varthorian, not start a turf war with the Morag Tong" "Then maybe you should go back to Skyrim Rodrik, I don't anticipate the Tong will be too happy when I torture their leaders for information." "You're right" "What?" "I've been away from the fighting too long already, Ulfric needs all the men he can possibly get, afterall the Legion has probably invaded by now, I vowed to find Varthorian, but if he is deep in Hlaalu territory the odds of survival drop dramatically considering the added Imperial presence." Helseth stared at his friend and smirked "I bear you no grudge my friend, I will complete your mission for you, anyway i'm an exile now too just like Varthorian, and that means I know where to start looking for that Altmer bastard." Rodrik outstretched his hand and shook Helseth's, "Till we meet again my friend." Helseth nodded and watched as Rodrik stole one of the guards' horses and rode off into the distance. The Dunmer covered his face with black cloth to avoid recognition and proceeded on foot onwards into the city of Kragenmoor. It shouldn't be too hard to find the Tong, afterall they're not exactly known for their low profile h''e thought as he caught a glimpse of the tavern owner, Raynil Indlyn walking down a dusty alleyway. ''He's alone now is my chance to get answers. Helseth quickly followed the assassin down the alleyway without drawing suspicion, the Dunmer turned onto the next alleyway and drew his spear. "Stop assassin" Helseth called out as Raynil turned around with a smirk on his face. "Get him" the assassin called out as several Morag Tong agents appeared from invisibility spells and knocked Helseth out before he had time to react. "Take him to Vehk, he'll know what to do with him." Indlyn stated bluntly as he walked off back into the market square, leaving the Morag Tong operatives to abduct the now unconscious Helseth. Main Characters Helseth.png|Helseth Redoran Screenshot-Original (8).png|Rodrik Winterhorn MikarMoran.jpg|Mikar Moran 2015-10-07 00002.jpg|Raynil Indlyn Navigation Category:Stories Category:The Redoran Struggle